2008 Woodie Awards
Donating plasma, more good than frightening
Poor college students resort to donating plasma for a few extra bucks while serving a worthwhile cause and possibly saving someone's life in the process.
Anne-Marie Sampson
Issue date: 4/27/05 Section: Life
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Plasma donations are an important part of Medical treatment for many people in the world. Without plasma donatetions, many people today would not live. There is a location for donation right here in Pocatello. It is the BIOMAT USA building on Center Street.
Due to the ick factor, which is readily attached to process, most people know little about donating plasma. It is fairly important to know the process, if you can manage to work through the psychological block that is often formed, and actually donate.
First you must sign up and fill out the paper work. You are asked about your medical background and even a little about your personal life. Once you pass the screening process you can make your first appointment for a donation of your plasma.
The donation process requires little from the participant. You simply sit down and wait while blood is being taken from your arm and cycled through a machine which extracts the plasma. When the process is finished they put your blood back into your body through the same needle in your arm.
It may sound bad or scary, but according to BioMet employee Dinkham Misay there are no safety risks involved for the donor. Everything that is used is sterilized according to and even beyond the requirements with some of the utensils. Everything is controlled by health standards. The technician who will extract the plasma is a trained and certified phlebotomist. No worries, you will not have just any person off the street jabbing you with a needle.
While there are no safety risks involved some draw backs do exist. The needle used is considered by most donors to be a little large. They use 16 and 17 gauge needles in the process of plasma donation. You could compare the size of the needle to the tip of a ball point pen and see that the size is not so unreasonable.
You may also get dizzy or woozy during the process. However, if you are not the typical over exerted, under fed, college student you may be able to take some steps to prevent the side effects.